LIMA ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SITES

Differing from the colonial buildings, the most important pre-Hispanic archaeological remains are found, logically, outside the Historical Centre of the City, dispersed over the residential districts or in the coastal valleys in relative proximity to the Capital. Lima, the Capital of Perú, is a city located virtually in the middle of the Peruvian coast and nearly at sea level. Its importance as a harbour during the times of the colony made it the only South American capital situated at the shores of the Pacific Ocean. Its mild climate shows no harsh extremes (12-20°C during Winter and a maximum of 20-30°C in Summer), and no excessive variations from day to night. Thus, it permits to be visited during all of the 365 days of the year.

The Huacas of Metropolitana Lima
In the ancient Peru, a Huaca could either be a river, a tree or a mountain to whom magical powers were conferred in the belief that there dwelled some divinity or ancestor. In the area of the coast, that designation was specifically used to name some scaled pyramids.

The growing process of Lima, thanks to the efforts of scholars and neighbours, has spared numbers of Huacas, leaving them as archaeological vestiges that stand out in the middle of this large City.

In the heart of the district of San Isidro stands the archaeological complex of Huallamarca. Hualla in the quechua tongue means "uneven" and marca stands for "village", because in its first times this complex presented a structure sustained over spiralled ramps. In the year of 1999, several pieces of pottery were unearthed, possibly indicating a near-by burial of some important character. An aspect that is common to almost all the important Huacas of Lima is that there are many young archaeologists still working on them, along with some non professional people that voluntarily offer their time and efforts. That is the case of the Huaca Pucllana, nowadays a Historical and Cultural Park, located in the District of Miraflores. This complex was the ceremonial and administrative centre of the Lima culture (around 400 A.D.) which held the control of the valley. The evidences at hand point out that many activities of religious cult, rites and sacrifices to worship their gods took place here. It is also possible that the residences of the governing priests were located in this place. The Pucllana Historical Park includes a museum and areas of research, preservation, restoration and cultural promotion, the latter with the task of motivating the community, starting from childhood, to create a conscience of respect and pride for their natural and archaeological patrimony.

Huaca Huallamarca
In the district of San Isidro we will find this important archaeological compound, only a little smaller than Pucllana: the Huaca Huallamarca or Pan de Azúcar (Sugar Bread), an adobe scaled pyramid with an impressive access ramp.

A pyramidal shaped Ceremonial Centre of pre-Inca times contains a museum that exhibits artefacts that were found in the site.

The tombs found in the Huaca Huallamarca embrace a very long period that goes from the 3rd century A.D. to the coming of the Incas during the 15th century. Apparently, Huallamarca was a ceremonial centre whose access was possibly restricted to a religious elite, in view of the fact that the uncovered floors show little wear from use. A long sequence of employment and abandonment of this Huaca reveals the different ways in which the funerary practices changed through time.

During the historical period called the Intermedio Temprano (Early Intermediate), the dead were buried laying on their back on mattresses of reeds Towards the 6th century A.D. the corpses were put in a flexed way, giving them a foetal position and wrapped in fine fabrics. And during the last stages of the Horizonte Medio (epochs 3 and 4), the dead were wrapped in fardos or bundles with a false head above, a sort of mask made of painted fabric or wood.

Adress: At the intersection of the Avenidas El Rosario and Nicolás de Rivera Avenues, San Isidro.
Phone: (511) 222-4124.
Visit schedule: Tuesday to Sunday 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Huaca Pucllana o Juliana
The site of the pre-Inca temple with a pyramidal shape, built using small handmade adobe bricks contains a small museum. The Huaca Pucllana is situated in the midst of the modern district of Miraflores, with an area of five hectares.

This Huaca was an administrative and ceremonial centre to the inhabitants of the valley of Rímac, during the Intermedio Temprano and until the early Horizonte Medio (5th to 8th centuries A.D.).

The main building of this complex is 500 metres long, more than 100 metres wide and 22 metres high. It is a solid truncated pyramid, entirely built over a base of stuffed and compressed soil and small adobe bricks. Moreover, the complex is surrounded by a number of precincts of lesser size but altogether notable: rooms, galleries, patios and ramps, generally richly pasted in mud and, in some cases, with traces of yellow paint.

The sheer monumentality of this construction of adobe gets easily in evidence when the visitor climbs up to its summit. From there, it is possible to behold the city spreading below, with its modern buildings rising, and, beyond, the sea appears as a greenish carpet speckled by ochre islands. Relying on its architecture and on the objects unearthed all over this place, the only possible function that it served to was as an administrating centre of the cult and of the produce from the Valley. The archaeologists have so far retrieved textiles, ceramics with red, white and black, or grey and orange ornamentations, remains of some edibles like corn, beans, pallar (a big flat bean), chirimoya, pacae fruit, alpacas, guinea pigs, ducks, and also fish and molluscs.

This is an important archaeological and cultural complex composed by the archaeological ruins itself, a field museum and an area of workshops and seminars.

It was the centre of development of the Lima Culture. A building for both ceremonial and administrative purposes, built with adobe and ruled by a group of priests that politically ruled over the valleys of Chancay, Chillón, Rímac and Lurín. It contains two separate zones, one a pyramidal structure 23 metres high, aimed for the cult and sacrifices to their deities, and the urban zone, were there still can be seen squares, ramps, patios and rooms for storage.

This archaeological site has been related by scholars to other places alike in the Department of Lima, like Maranga (San Miguel), Cajamarquilla (Ate-Vitarte) and Pachacamac (Lurín). The museum and hall of expositions function since 1984, and contains an interesting collection of ceramics, textiles, tools and artifacts made of wood and stone. There are also some actual representations of economical activities and funerary rites. In a close-by hall there is an exhibition of plants and animals that existed in those times on the area. The Cultural Promotional area has developed conferences and workshops like the Arqueología para niños, or Archaeology for Kids, comprising activities like textile handcrafts and the elaboration of pottery among others. There also exists a good restaurant that allows tasting some typical Peruvian dishes with a view of the ruins.

Address: Block 8 of General Borgoño Street (between blocks 5 and 6 of Angamos Oeste avenue), Miraflores. Five kilometres away from the Centre of Lima (some 45 minutes drive).
Phone: (511) 445-8695.
Schedule of visits: Wednesday to Monday 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Huaca Mateo Salado
Also known as Ruinas de Arcona and Cinco Cerritos, it is located facing the Plaza de la Bandera Square, in the boundaries of the Districts of Lima, Breña and Pueblo Libre. In the intersection of the avenues Tingo María and Mariano Cornejo and the streets Ernesto Malinowski, Enrique López Albújar, E. García Rosell and Belisario Sosa.

The archaeological complex of Mateo Salado is composed by five monumental pyramids, built over a base of tapiales (big blocks of mud assembled together). Its present extension is of about 20 hectares.

The first structure is located over a large rectangular platform that is itself surrounded by four thick walls leaving a space in between. This is repeated on every other superimposed platform, resulting in streets and corridors on each level.

The second structure is constituted by a number of big dimensioned halls and squares, which could possibly be the indicators of a mainly residential use.

The remaining three are lesser structures. The third one has an internal stairway that ends on a high terrace. The fourth, pretty separated from the rest, shows a square oriented towards the North, a large rectangular cancha or square field and many funerary chambers. The fifth and smaller, presents an almost square lay out.

In the past, this complex was connected to the archaeological complex of Maranga through a narrow walled road. It is dated in the Intermedio Tardío (1000 A.D. - 1470 A.D.) and the Horizonte Tardío (1470 A.D. - 1532 A.D.).

Huacas at the South of Metropolitana Lima
The Oracle of Pachacamac
At a distance of 31 kilometres to the South of Lima by the Panamericana Sur Highway, overlooking the fruitful valley of Lurín, looms the ancient pre-Hispanic oracle of Pachacamac, the notable Ceremonial Centre that made such an impression on the Spaniard conquerors, and undoubtedly to the proper Incas when they arrived to take over this part of the coast.

This archaeological complex is declared as Cultural Patrimony of Humanity, and one of the foremost ceremonial centres in the central coast. It was a place to worship the god Pachacamac, the god of fire and descendant of the Sun. The construction of this sanctuary is credited to the Lima Culture (4th and 5th centuries A.D.) who also built the temples of Urpiwachak and the composite of Adobitos. After this culture and for over one thousand years it became consecutively subjected to diverse cultures, like the Wari, Ichmay and Inca, which added their own styles to the edifications they encountered.

Built entirely on raw mud bricks (adobe), it was considered, along with Cusco, the major place of cult among the pre-Hispanic people. To this place constantly swarmed thousands of peregrines from the remotest lands to render tribute and to consult the oracle of the god Pachacamac, architect of the world and creator of all its creatures. The Inca sector of this complex (1440 - 1533 A.D.) remains also as the best preserved.

There are palaces, temples and squares that have been thoroughly refurbished, and contains a field museum that keeps an essential collection of archaeological items. The influence domain of Pachacamac as a religious centre surpassed the regional area in ways that are still unknown. Most likely, its influence started somewhere around the early Intermedio Temprano period.

The discovery of a temple belonging to that period, known as the Templo Viejo or Old Temple, with a façade painted in red, was made by the notorious German archaeologist Max Uhle. His findings, especially of ceramics and textiles, have styles and designs reputedly from the Sierra region, in some cases showing a clear influence from the altiplanic cultures (mostly Tiahuanaco, a culture originated on the Collao Plateau, at the southern highlands of Perú). From a later period, maybe from the end of the Horizonte Medio (9th - 10th centuries), would possibly date another structure known as Templo Pintado or Painted Temple, named so due to the remnants of mural paintings on its walls.

The god Pachacamac, of a Central Coast extraction, survived the domination of both the Incas and the Spaniards. According to the mythology of the Incas, it was the god of the fire and son of the Sun, re-newer of the world, and whose power became associated with earthquakes. With the arrival of the Spaniards, it became transfixed into the Christ of Pachacamilla, mostly worshipped as the Señor de los Milagros (Lord of the Miracles).

The actual size of Pachacamac is approximately 492 hectares, including some protected natural areas that comprise a forest of carob trees and a lake.

To saunter about the place means to traverse over the history of the Valley of the Lurín River and of the Central Coast as well, through its burials and temples, and to became acquainted with the millenary communion of the ancient Peruvians with nature.

Located at 31 kilometres from the City of Lima. Roughly 45 minutes travel.

Huacas at the Noth of Metropolitana Lima
La Fortaleza de Paramonga
Located 203 kilometres to the North of Lima, about three and a half hours across the Panamerican Roadway, arouses this splendid terraced pyramid in a perfect state of preservation: Paramonga.

It is a grandiose construction of adobe and stone, from which outstandingly hangs an impressive building known as La Fortaleza or The Fortress, erected over a huge rock outcropping. Along with this building, lay deployed smaller structures pierced by a maze of ramps and corridors.

This complex is from the Intermedio Tardío period (1100 - 1400 A.D.), and ascribed to the Chimu Culture, although years later it became occupied by the Incas (1440 - 1532 A.D.). It is possible to visit two rooms with niches on their walls and a room that shows traces of red, white and ochre paint.

The top of a natural mound beside cropping fields was completely transformed due to the construction of five high overtopped terraces. Several doors with restricted access convey to the summit, where a secluded structure with four rooms is located. The pottery and the characteristic parallelepiped adobe bricks leave no room to doubts about its Inca's origins. The seemingly defensive appearance is deceitful, because this building most probably did not served to any military purposes, but ones of cult. It is not a casual fact that this complex, with a polychrome finishing on its walls, so strongly recalls one of the most monumental exploits of the Incas along the Coast: the Pyramid of the Sun in Pachacamac.

Location: at 200 kilometres to the North of Lima, over the Carretera Panamericana Norte.

Rupak-Marca Kullpi
An important legacy from the culture of the Atavillos (900 - 1460 A.D.) in the form of a impressive citadel whose main structure is the Castillo Marca Kullpi Castle, surrounded by mythical mausoleums and a number of well preserved chullpas (circular or rectangular stone structures for funerary purposes). On the inside of its rectangular buildings can be seen ornamentations on the walls and tubular chimneys. The main square welcomes the visitor within its astounding stone portals.

Location: Archaeological Complex. Town of Pampas, District of Atavillos Bajos, Huaral. 160 kilometres to the North of Lima.

Necropolis de Ancón
The Bay of Ancón was in past times a privileged place for human life on account of its abundant marine resources. There must have existed a very large population judging from the greatly extended area detached to be used as a necropolis.

The burials are arranged in overlaying levels, one atop another. Even on this days, there still are some 35,000 tombs awaiting to be studied. The remains of three well defined epochs lay buried here: Horizonte Temprano (900 - 300 B.C.), Intermedio Tardío (900 - 1400 A.D.) and Horizonte Tardío (1440 - 1532 A.D.).

Location: Ancon is located 35 kilometres to the North of Lima. The Necropolis is 300 metres from the main square of Ancón, about a five minute walk.

The Huacas in the Sierra of Lima
The "Dead City" of Cajamarquilla
This is one of the most important archaeological complexes of the central pre-Hispanic coast.

Entirely built in adobe, it comprises a peculiar set of walled palaces. It is located 15 kilometres to the East of Lima by the Central Roadway, over the left margin and on the lower part of the Huaycoloro ravine. From the locality of Huachipa, an unpaved road winds in direction of the zinc refinery of Cajamarquilla, from there on, the valley gets narrowed by the imposing presence of the mountains, sources of many watering streams that irrigate the fields of the lower Valley.

This archaeological site was built during the Intermedio Temprano, around the years of 400 or 600 A.D. while the valley was under the influence of the Lima Culture, and stands out as the second biggest urban complex constructed with mud in the ancient Perú, with its 167 hectares of extension, surpassed only by the citadel of Chan Chan, in the Department of La Libertad to the North of Lima.

A centre of regional influence during a period from the 6th to 8th centuries A.D., the "dead city" of Cajamarquilla is assembled by pyramids, squares, streets, rooms and mazes clearly distinguishable in the midst of an arid landscape, harshly beaten by floods during the El Niño phenomenon appearances. Nevertheless, this place sustained a very complete and dynamic civilization, as asserted by the many human burials located in several sectors; the different decorations on objects, some typical of the valley itself, others from the rest of the Coast and others from the southern Sierra; also by the many underground cellars to keep food; and by the patios devoted to the production of chicha (an alcoholic beverage obtained from the maceration of corn) for the parties.

Towards the 8th century the place was deserted, but some time later a new cultural thrust seemingly re-born and new buildings were raised above or beside the old ones. Its importance as a urban and political centre kept growing until the year of 1100 A.D. (Intermedio Tardío), when the disorganised and uncanny look that prevails today was finally reached.

Location: Over the right margin of the Rímac River, in the lower part of the Jicamarca Ravine, at a distance of 15 kilometres from the City of Lima (25 Km. from the Pacific Ocean). It takes some 30 minutes car drive to access this site, all year round, and totally cost free.

El Palacio de Puruchuco
Over the road that climbs towards the highlands East of Lima, is located Puruchuco, the palace of a curaca or cacique that ruled over a portion of the left margin of the Rímac River, some little time before and during the establishment of the Incas over this Valley.

The building belongs to the Inca Period, constructed with rectangular adobes, the residential palace of Puruchuco shows a square lined deploy, encased by a thick wall 4 metres high and 60 centimetres thick. The interior is distributed in a series of halls, patios and corridors coherently articulated. It is assumed to have served as the residence of a functionary, as well as an administrative centre devoted to the surveillance of the productive endeavours of the zone.

At the foremost, we can access the Field Museum and appreciate some interesting pieces unearthed from the place, as vessels, keros (a kind of ceramic or wooden vase) and jars among other findings, and a spectacular exhibit of a funerary bundle (fardo funerario) arranged besides its original set of offerings.

There is also a re-make of the methods used in burials, with written explanations that will enlighten the visitor of the habits of these people.

There is a hall with Temporal Exhibits and a Hall of Metals filled with golden objects and the tools used on them. There is also a reproduction of the Palace of Puruchuco in a reduced scale that will become useful to comprehend the magnitude of the building.

Location: Archaeological Site, Carretera Central, kilometre 4.5.
Schedule of visits: Monday - Sunday from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.

Cementery of Puruchuco
It is regarded as the second biggest cemetery and the one with the highest number of burials during a same period (1480 - 1535), known worldwide due to the unearthing in the last years of more than 2,200 mummies. This bundled mummies were found on a foetal position, along with diverse objects left as offerings for the personal use of the deceased, like keros filled with corn, potatoes or meat of llamas; combs, needles and other alike artefacts.

These mummies are now being studied in Lima and in Canada, revealing the presence of some peculiar characters as the one already known as "el Rey del Algodón" or "the King of Cotton", a seemingly noble man in the company of a youngster, bundled together with layer upon layer of unprocessed cotton, containing also some ceramics, animal hides and corn. There is also a huge funerary bundle known as "Falsas Cabezas" or "False Heads" that contains in its interior several bodies huddled together in a foetal position. Its name comes from the fact that a false head made from cotton was sewn to its upper external part, resembling a real head.

Location: Asentamiento Humano Tupac Amaru, nearby the Palace of Puruchuco.

Chiprakk
An impressive urban centre that rises from the heights, constructed by the legendary people known as the Atavillos (900 - 1460 A.D.). There can be mentioned the superb Palacio del Curaca or the Palace of the Curaca, located over a hilltop, in a careful surveillance of its domains. A careful look will reveal that the stone walls are surrounded by terraces and funerary chullpas.

Location: Archaeological Complex at a distance of 65 kilometres (4 hours) from the town of Huaral, that is located itself at 80 kilometres at the North of Lima.

Incawasi
Tells the story that this enormous construction was built to serve as quarters to the troops of Inca Tupac Yupanqui, during his conquering campaign against the Señorío or Lordship of the Guarco (1450 A.D.).

This Complex is divided in three well defined areas: the Barrio Incaico or Incaic Neighbourhood, strewn with streets, rooms and dwellings where the troops of the Inca stayed. The Barrio Religioso (Religious Neighbourhood) or of the Colcas. And finally the Palace of the Inca, erected over the highest part of the Complex and conveniently protected by a mountain.

Location: Archaeological Site at 60 kilometres (45 minutes) from San Vicente de Cañete, itself located at 120 kilometres by the Autopista Panamericana Sur (South Pan-American Highway).